Jung_E

So JUNG_E has some very exciting action and some great visuals, a great lead performance from Kang Soo-yeon, (Rest in peace). The film is clearly taking inspiration from other Si-Fi futuristic movies such as Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2049, and I Robot. So the inspiration shown is very interesting to see but the film doesn't live up to those expectations at all as the story is pretty forgettable and feels like we've seen the film a hundred times before. There's also some annoying characters here such as the director played by Ryu Kyung-soo. So cool action and visuals but forgettable story 5/10.

The S/VFX were all top shelf in this film, but it had two downfalls; one was the constant cheesy and annoying attempts at humor which became cringeworthy fast. The other was the convoluted screenplay. The conceptual story was actually decent, but it ended up all style with very little substance. It was riddled with plot holes, and incohesive and incoherent dialogue. Even the normally comfortable 98 min runtime felt much longer with all the infantile dialogue, terrible humor and some of the long, dragged out and unnecessary scenes. Writer and director Sang-ho Yeon should have made many edits and scene cuts after seeing the final version to at lease create better cohesion. It's a generous 6/10 from me, mostly for the very impressive visuals.

I love Korean made movies. Especially the sci-fi stuff. However, the only thing that I wish would happen is they get more gritty and realistic. People do not interact like they write into these movies. Dispense with the goofy material in a serious movie. It's not a comedy. Flipping from super serious to goofy comedy side characters is like cars crashing into one another. The transition is tough to deal with. People like serious movies. They also like comedies. But you gotta pick one. This one should have been all serious. Dispense with the dopey science assistants and improve a bit on the sci-fi effects, and you've got an 8-9 hit! But I don't want to detract from the general story which was still very good.

The movie starts of well and has gripping action from the start, the action sequences are some of the most exciting and edge of your seat combat with some cool ethical theorys as well as the morality of ai consciousness but it's structured very poorly. The exposition is thick and fast leaving you little time to really let sink in what has just been said. The action is also condensed into 3 or 4 blocks that while great, serve as little reward for the exposition you sit through to get to that point. While the ideas explored inside are definitely interesting and a great movie could be built on their premise the movie get slightly lost in itself with the amount of detail pushed into what is ultimately quite a short movie. It's a good watch when you can find nothing else but I would say it is a fall back on, rather than searching out.

Soon to be cult classic South Korean Sci-Fi where once again corporate thuggery is at work, taking advantage of the earth's depleting and chaotic system. This time dealing with Combat AIs injected with a high level brain function from a deceased woman soldier, who happens to be a mother to one of the chief scientists working on the project (only in Korean movies)! This connection creates the emotional bond between robot and human, giving this movie a surprising depth that has you cheering them all the way.

The action scenes are a gamers joy, and handled well without being too convoluted, like most movies where one never knows what the heck is going on. Production value is high, and the pristine quality cinematography a bonus.

This little gem of a soon to be cult classic is a grand send-off to Kang Soo-youn, with her top-notch subdued performance as the chief scientist, Soehyun.

So gather your nerdy friends, find a big screen, and give it a midnight screening!